Letter

WLC school bond isn’t that much

I attended the Wilton school bond issue meeting Friday night. The issue passed by a razor thin margin, despite the fact that there was overwhelming evidence for its value for our community. I did a quick analysis of the numbers: $8 million over 30 years at 5.6 percent (it will be less) is the equivalent of slightly less than $50,000 per month. When you divide that by 455 households (based on the 2010 census data), that’s roughly $100 per month, per household. Or, $3 per day. Most people, with property that’s evaluated at less than average, will pay much less. A small number of affluent people will pay more. That’s beer money for some people. Car payments are typically five times this amount. Or, certainly much less than the cost of a daily Dunkin’ Donuts habit.

What is the argument against funding our schools? Who is promulgating this? What do they hope to gain? Education isn’t a luxury anymore — just read the job advertisements. If we want to reduce our tax rate, then we need to attract businesses, and today’s businesses want an educated work force. I think we can all afford the cost of cup of coffee and a muffin to make this possible.